Former trooper gets probation in mail fraud

March 07, 2006|by DAVE McMILLION

MARTINSBURG, W.Va. - A former West Virginia State Police sergeant was sentenced Monday in U.S. District Court to one year of probation and ordered to pay restitution in connection with a mail fraud case, U.S. Attorney Thomas E. Johnston said.

David Forman, 37, of 3527 Greensburg Road, Martinsburg, pleaded guilty in December 2005 to one count of an indictment charging him with mail fraud.

Forman made a false insurance claim that his automobile was hit by a deer, but Forman's automobile was damaged when he purchased it, Johnston said.

Forman's false claim caused an insurance company to mail a check to him for $4,867.51, Johnston said.

Forman faced a maximum of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, but was sentenced to one year of probation Monday by U.S. District Judge W. Craig Broadwater, Johnston said.

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Forman also was ordered to pay restitution of $4,867.51, Johnston said.

Forman worked as a sergeant in the Jefferson County barrack of the state police and also served as a detachment commander in the Berkeley County barrack of the state police, officials said.

Forman is the second state police sergeant in the area to face a mail fraud charge.

In November, George William Bradshaw III, of 614 E. Moler Ave., Martinsburg, was indicted by a federal grand jury on a charge of mail fraud after an audit of an evidence room at the Martinsburg state police detachment revealed that $18,542 was missing, Johnston said.

The case involved reports that were altered or were fraudulent and investigations that did not occur, according to the indictment.

According to the indictment, Bradshaw was the "evidence custodian" at the Martinsburg state police detachment.

When money is seized by state police, the investigator completes a property disposition report which specifies the amount of money seized and from whom it was seized, the indictment said.

When the money arrives in the detachment, it is logged into evidence with the completion of an evidence log sheet, the indictment said.

The indictment alleges that from about Oct. 1, 1999, to about Sept. 13, 2002, Bradshaw devised a scheme of obtaining money by "fraudulent pretenses."

The case involved the removal of two forms including the property disposition report.

The forms would be replaced with altered or fraudulent forms, the indictment states.